Variety (September 1952)

W^cJnesday, Sepfa^wlwsr 17» 19S2 KABIO-TKLKVISIOIIV AIHNCES IKE KING TV Tmmorality’ Up Again Washington, Sept. 16. Resuming its probe into radio and tele programs for immorality and offensiveness, the House Interstate Commerce Committee was told today (Tues.) that the TV industry’s effort at self-regulation <jepends on the force of public oiiinion. Thad H. Brown, director of the NAHTB's television department, testified that industry association has no authority over subscribers to its code, in the event of violation. “There is no supreme power forcing its will on anyone. It is purely voluntary and based on faith,” Brown said. The power to •willidraw the code authority’s seal, “and the weight of public opinion.” constitutes the code body’s only power to enforce its standards. Ralph W. Hardy, NARTB director of government relations, told the committee that the average broadcasting station does not receive any great volume of critical mail. He said every criticism is given careful attention. Dr. Clinton N. Howard, superintendent of the International Reform Federation, prohibitionist group, strongly denounced beer ad\ertising on the air. He charged that religious aura with Mich sponsors surround some of tbfeir beer commercials is an “unrighte- ous invasion of Christian homes.” H^ said that “Amos ’n’ Andy” have “sold thejr birthright to promote the beer heisters for 30 pieces of silver.” m Be MOV (N.Y.’s 65flG DHF) IfWOV-MOMGetfhaiinelNod Decision of WHOM and WOV,4' N. V.. multi-lingual AM indies, to pool resources in applying for UHF Channel 31—^in lieu of filing competitive bids—^may result in a unique video operation, if the FCC okays the application. Station, which would be tagged WHOV, would bring to tele the specialized program concept whicli both AM outlets have parlayed into a successful commercial pat- tern. Cooking shows would show how to make TItalian, Spanish, Jcwi.sli. French, Belgian and other national dishes, rather than the straight American . foods covered on other outlets. In addition to the Italian programs, which have been the chief program staple of WHOM and WOV, the projected WHOV would also have a heavy emphasis on Spanish-language fea- tures, based on the growing im- portance of the Spanish-speaking market in the New York melting pot. 0 As part of its Spanish slant, WHOV anticipates culling Latln- American tele production—Mexi- (Continued on page 47) What Goes At WOR-Mutual? Grimm’s Mpis. Switch Minneapolis, Sept. 16. George Grimm, one of the town's top radio personalities, has re- signed from WCCO after many years as one of its leading staffers, to join the competing radio and TV KSTP. Grimm makes his KSTP debut Nov. 3 after returning from a South American trip for the Min- neapolis Tribune, for which he’s also a columnist. Eqnity’s Stand Bolsters Mei^er OfAFRA-TVA Probability that the Associated Actors & Artistes of America will approve a wedding of the Ameri- can Federation of Radio Artists and Television Authority is taking a sharp swing upward. It’s under- stood that Actors Equity is moving towards aftproving an AFRA-TVA blending, on the basis that a broader-scale merger will take a long time to effect, and that in the interim the greater bargaining Theodore C. Streibert. strength of a merged AFRA-TVA Performers in broad- casting, Inc., in the Thomas F. casting inplndlni? F.nnifv mpmiiArc O’Neil Broadcasting empire is caus- ing some industry discussion and speculation on the heels of the res- ignations of J. R, (Jack) Poppele and H. C. (Pete) Maddux. Poppele and Maddux were both veteran IVOR, N, Y., veepees un- 0 ( 0 ' Streibert, former prexy of WOR. Poppele having been with the station since it was launched JO yeai’s ago and Maddux having ovei' 11 years of service. A^ter the O’Neil takeover, with Mutual and W OR integrated, Poppele was named engineering v.p. for the chain in addition to N. Y. key. iviacuuix, previously sales v.p. for OR and WOR-TV, was given re- sponsibility only for the TV opera- tion. Poppele is becoming an en- gineering consultant, handling > (Continued on page 46) abc’sIerns adding WJZ PROGRAM CHORES .®crns, production super- R t’adio, moves up into •. ihaz old spot and adds duties WJZ, the n.m ^ key. Diaz was o^ lio chief of the web ‘'(M tins month. Iv.fi u ' ^ttnouncer-reporter, ■ 1 ^... cen promotion manager of lei'i lu years back. He stri'if.''^'."i^ 14-month &.■ ^ producer for Kenyon' ^ i-ckhardt agency. casting, including Equity members Last week the 4A‘’s board di- vided the jurisdiction in tele be- tween film (going to -Screen Ac- tors Guild) and live (going to TVA), but leaving open for discus- sion certain so-called “gray areas,” particularly shows lensed on film (Continued on page 46) F.M. FOLSOM EYING TO EUROPE THIS WEEKEND Frank M. Folsom flies out this weekend for Paris on the first lap of a month’s survey of Radio Corp. of America interests. From Paris, his trip will take him into Ger- many where RCA has funds, Italy, Spain, Egypt, French Morocco and Israel. G. A. (Joe) Biondo, head of RCA in Italy, who flew over witli his family (they maintain a permanent apartment in New York as well), will join Folsom, next week and pick up their European itinerary south. It now looks as if RCA can’t in- cept its manufacturing and mer- chandising in Spain and Italy for soir.;' months yet. It was hoped to get started this fall but Folsom, as president of RCA, wants to con- tinue his merchandising explora- tions a while longer. Brig. Gen. David Samoff, RCA board chairman, got back two weeks ago, from hii two>mouth o.o. of £uropf. < If the tfend is away from hour programming in television, it is not borne out by audience accep- tance of the shows on the basis of the recent Nielsens. In fact, just the opposite seems to be in order “Lux Video Theatre,” now a half hour Monday night presentation on CBS-TV, is considering expand- ing to a full hour to join the ranks of such dramatic entries as “Studio One,” “Robert Montgomery Pre sents” and “Kraft Theatre.” “Original Amateur Hour,” de- spite lucrative sponsorship offers being dangled if the show cuts to 30 minutes, refuses to trim the of- fering on the basis of its impact as a lengthier attraction permitting for its assorted institutional and merchandise gimmicks. Fact that during the summer layoff of the Milton Berle show, “Amateur Hour” ruled the Tuesday night Nielsen rating roost, lends cre- dence to the conviction of Ted Mack and the show’s producers that shaving to a half-hour would destroy much of the program’s value, both entertainment-wise and in its “Salute” institutional pay- offs to the client. Nielsen ratings for July show that at least half of the Top 10 TV shows were of the full-hour and 45 minute variety. .These include the Wednesday night CBS-TV “Godfrey and Friends” show, with each half-hour copping a Top 10 nod; the NBC-TV Philco-Goodyear Playhouse; the CBS-TV “Westing- house Summer Theatre,” replace- ment for the hour-long “Studio One;” NBC-TV “Roberl. Mont- gomery Presents;” NBC-TV “Original Amateur Hour;” CBS- TV Pabst fights, and NBC-TV “Kraft Television Playhouse.” Oth- er full-hour shows paying off rat- Ingwise in the summer sweep- stakes included “Big Payoff,” Col- gate’s replacement for the. Sun- day night “Comedy Hour” and CBS-TV’s “Toast of the Town,” This fall finds all the hour at- tractions riding again, included “Toast,” “Comedy Hour,” “AH Star Revue,” the daytime Elate Smith show, Saturday night “Show of Shows” (do minutes), “Studio One.” Kraft, Philco - Goodyear show, Robert Montgomery dra- matics; Godfrey, etc. ABC Goes OAer Webs One Better On ‘Continpons’ Formula in Rate Slash Two on a Cable Now that electronics are moving into an era where dis- tances are little more than an exciting challenge, NBC and the telephone company are working on a plan whereby two different television shows can be transmitted at the same time on one cable. It’s still in the laboratory but O. B. Hanson, NBC’s vee- pee, is hopeful of sufficient progress for a test run by early next year. NBC Integration Set for Coast, Too; Blackburn Exiting Norman Blackburn, head of tele- vision production on the Coast for NBC, is exiting the organization— newest casualty in the web’s rein- tegration formula, which has re- sulted in personnel lopoffs through- out the company in the past sev- eral weeks. Blackburn is in Ne>y York this weekmegotiating for new connection, and returns to the Coast next week. He rounds out the year at NBC before checking off the payroll. Under the new policy of inte- gration, Tom McCray, who has headed the AM production division on the Coast, is scheduled to take over both the radio and TV fa- cets. (Before being shifted to the Coast, both McCray and Blackburn operated out of NBC’s New York headquarters.) It’s anticipated that the Integra- tion pattern will be carried out to embrace all Coast departments of the network. Before joining NBC, Blackburn was identified with the Coast pro- duction setup of J. Walter Thomp- son. Who’s Got Molly Picon? A tele serifes starring Molly Picon, comedienne, in musicom- edies and variety material culled from the works of her husband, Jacob Kalich, for the Yiddish stage, has been wrapped up by MarMan Associates, indie pack- agers. However, David P. Polon and Charles Lewin claim that they have the exclusive option on Miss Picon’s tele services, via William Morris Agency. They are pitching a variety show which would be in English, with some Yiddish ele- ments added. BLAYNE BUTCHER JOINS GRIEG’S WHUM SETUP Reading, Pa., Sept. 16. Blayne Butcher, former TV- Radio Director of Newell-Emmett, has been appointed general execu- tive of WHUM-TV ar.d AM here, by Humboldt J. Grieg, president and general manager. Butcher’s wide broadcasting ex- perience has included associations with such other agencies as Len- nen & Mitchell and Cecil & Pres- brey. The WHUM-TV and AM al- liance marks his return to the sta- tion field, since he formerly held executive posts as WBAP, Ft. Worth; WLW, Cincinnati; WCAU, Philadelphia, and KTTV, Holly- wood. Canada’s Ho-Hum TV Bow Toronto, Sept. 16. With two stations opening in Toronto and Montreal, television got under way in Canada last week for tvv*&-hour evening service that created little fanfare. The initial sample packages from both cities were a cluttered promise of what Canadian talent may do but the opening seminars were brief and hurried grab-bags, with Montreal nitery talent showing the greater know-how and some sophistication. So far, it’s speeches and puppets, sports commentators and pan- tomime, more flag-waving from politicians, the promise of high school debates and church services. Meanwhile, Prime Minister St. Laurent has announced that the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., State-operating group controlling radio and TV in Canada, proposes to build three more TV stations to serve the Dominion in what will ultimately be a trans-Canada chain. One at Vancouver will serve the West Coast, another at Winnipeg will serve the Prairies, a third at Halifax will serve the East Coast—but these may not be possible for another two years. No levy will be made on Canadian TV setowners until the end of the Government’s budget year on March 31 next, but then the setowner’s annual fee may be a recommended ,$15. (There are some 60,000 set.'j in the Toronto area.) ABC’s AM new rate cut formula will be patterned to attract bank- rollers into a two-way night and day spread via an extension of the “contiguous rate” concept. Thus, while ABC cuts its eve- ning rates by 25% and ups its morning rates by 5%, to keep abreast of the recent moves by NBC and CBS Radio, it is giving the spender an added lure under its “contiguous” system, whereby the backer can combine for day- time and nighttime programs for the extra concessions. NBC re- quires h spender to have at least a quarter-hour strip before being eligible for contiguous rates on the other side of the broadcast day, but ABC will require only a day and evening quarter-hour on the same day. Several ABC advertisers already are qualified for the addi- tional benefits. ABC radio toppers explained the web’s rate plan to affiliates on a closed circuit broadcast Monday (15) and letters ^yere also dis- patched to the statiohs. Letters in- clude a contract ride, endorsing the plan, which the outlets can ink and return to the web in lieu of attend- ing any meetings. The web is scheduling its regional station meetings, starting Sept. 29 on the Coast, but it expects almost com- plete endorsement before that time, probably by^he end of this week, when a formal announce- ment of the plan will go out to advertisers. It’s expected that the new formula will go into effect Oct. 1. the CBS and NBC cuts, ABC s would effect an average 25% nighttime cut. The web had sound- ed out key affiliates on a single straight rate for daytime and night- time, 'but the representative sta- tions felt this idea impractical at this time. While NBC and CBS hiked day- (Continued on page 46) RWG Hits Back At McCarran 'Bias’ Radio Writers Gui’d’s eastern region membership voted last week to “condemn” the Senate’s McCarran Committee blast charg- ing it with being under “pro-Com- munist” domination, RWG called the report, issued three weeks ago and containing the testimony of four “friendly” and two “unfriendly” witnesses;- “an overt and unfair attack on the membership and leadership of the RWG and a threat against the membership and leadership of all other guilds in the Authors League of America and of all the other unions in the entertainment field.” Radio scripters asked the coop- eration of the ALA and “all other unions in the. entertainment field in repelling this threatened at- tack,” referring to the upcoming probe by the Senate’s internal security subcommittee of other show business unions. Meeting also heard a report (Continued on page 46) HUTCHISON RESIGNS AS WBIG PREZ-MGR. Greensboro, N. C., Sept. 16. Gilbert M. Hutchison last week resigned his posts of president and general manager of WBIG here. Hutchison .iolned station as a sales- man in 1938, and took over the g.m. reins in 1949 upon the death of Maj. Edney Ridge. If a new man- ager is not named by Oct. 1, when Hutchison leaves, the job will go temporarily to Larry Walker, v.p. of WBT, Charlotte, which is also owned by the Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Co. Except for a vacation, Hutchi- son’s future • plans are unan- nounced. =